


Nostalgia From a Dying Mall

by AJewelAmong



Series: 200 Theme Challenge [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 07:51:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16259888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJewelAmong/pseuds/AJewelAmong
Summary: Alex and Fletcher go to the mall for lunch. But they end up finding...or remembering, that is...much more.





	Nostalgia From a Dying Mall

**Author's Note:**

> For theme #75 of the challenge, "Memories".

Alex and Fletcher wordlessly entered the shopping mall, with the automatic doors closing softly behind them. They were there to get lunch at the food court, after having spent about a half hour arguing back and forth about where to eat. Alex had been pushing for an actual restaurant that was further down the street, but eventually her cousin had managed to wear her down and convinced her to go with him to the mall instead.

“I still don’t understand why you wanted to come here,” she said to him, as they walked in the general direction of the food court. “This place is practically dead. Heck, I don’t think I’ve been here since I was what…ten?”

“That’s exactly why I wanted to come here. We haven’t been since we were kids.” Fletcher replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I just wanted to see what it was like here now.”

Alex gave him a puzzled look, then shrugged her shoulders. “Okay then. As long as we can get some food…I guess I’m fine with that.”

They headed down the main walkway, and as they did, Alex noticed that on either side of them were rows of mostly vacant or shuttered storefronts. The only exception was a small phone accessory store, which happened to be having a closing sale, and the gaming store near the entrance. Fletcher pulled one hand from his pocket and pointed to the storefront to their left.

“I think that used to be like, a collectibles store or something? I can’t remember exactly. My mom never took me in there.” He noted. “I guess she thought I would break something.” He laughed.

Alex nodded her head in the direction of a storefront on the other side. “See that store with the pink all around it? That used to be a cupcake store. I remember grandma said it wasn’t going to last long…she was right, I guess.”

They kept walking, eventually making to the main plaza. It was almost as empty as the rest of the place, with the only sound coming from the flowing water of a medium-sized fountain in the center. There were a few old-looking chairs around, but only one was occupied, by a man who was too focused on his laptop to notice the two of them. Alex stopped and looked at the fountain thoughtfully for a moment, before briskly walking over and sitting down beside it, on its bench-like edges. Fletcher followed, and sat down beside her.

“I remember when I was little, I would always beg my mom or dad to give me a penny, so I could make a wish in here.” Alex laughed wistfully. “I’m pretty sure I did it every time we came here.”

“And…?” Fletcher asked, curious as to why she had suddenly brought this up.

“I don’t know…I’m just remembering things. I didn’t realize how often I came here when I was a kid until now.”

She then took her purse, opened it up, and dug around for a moment before bringing out a single penny. She looked at it, closed her eyes, and after taking a breath, tossed it in the fountain. Then, she closed her purse and stood up.

After noticing the somewhat confused expression on Fletcher’s face, she explained.

“Just a quick wish. For old times’ sake.” She smiled. “Come on…let’s get to the food court.”

For the rest of the walk, Fletcher found that Alex was much more nostalgic then she had been when they had first arrived. Even more than he was, and he had been the one excited to come here and look around in the first place.

“Hey…remember when that was a daycare?” she asked him, as they walked by another closed up storefront.

“Oh, yeah…didn’t your mom leave us there once?” Fletcher replied. “It sure seems like it, anyway.”

“I think so. Wait…yeah; it had like, colorful handprints all over the walls inside, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. And there was a ball pit; I think while we were there, there was some kid pretending to be like the “king” of it, or something.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that.” Alex nodded, “And he wouldn’t let me or Jordan go in there, for…whatever reason. But he liked you.” She rolled her eyes.

They went back to walking again. They were about halfway to the food court now, as far as they could tell. But it wasn’t long before they had stopped again to look at yet another store. It was a coffee shop, with green and orange neon lights framing its edges, but they remembered it as something else.

“This used to be a pizza store.” Fletcher remarked.

“Oh my gosh, yes! I remember that.” Alex’s eyes lit up. “They had the **_best_** cheese pizza. It was so…cheesy.” She laughed.

“And now it’s a cheap coffee shop.” Fletcher shook his head. “Seems like a downgrade to me.”

Alex nodded. “I agree. A good pizza beats coffee any day. Well…unless I’m tired. Then coffee wins everything.”

Soon, they found that they were right beside the food court…it lay just around the corner. But they had stopped in their tracks once again. This time, it was to look at a somewhat elaborate (at least, by that particular mall’s standards) blue-colored storefront. Neon lightbulbs could clearly be seen inside the translucent border of the shop, but they were turned off, as were the two neon diamond-shaped signs on either side of the marquee.

“You remember this place, right?” Alex asked.

“Of course! This used to be the arcade; I’m pretty sure I spent most of my time here.”

“I wanted to go in there a lot more than I got to.” Alex said with a small smile. “It seemed so cool to me. But mom always said it was too expensive…I think she just thought it was a waste of money.”

“I remember getting so pissed when it closed…” Fletcher recalled. “And then they replaced it with a sports store. God, that was awful.”

“Aw, really? I guess it wasn’t as popular anymore. Maybe mom was right, and it _was_ too expensive.”

“I think I heard something about the owner being unable to afford new games or something. Not sure. But I really wish it had been able to stay around.”

“Me too. It would’ve been nice to hang out in there for a few hours. Especially now, since I’ve got the money to throw around.” Alex said. “Well…at least there are still other arcades around. Sure, they’re meant more for parties and stuff like that…but at least they’re not totally gone.”

“Yeah, but…they’re not the same.”

“I know exactly what you mean.”


End file.
